navigating life as a wife and mother, while farming and homeschooling.

Tag Archives: Chicken

So I wanted to share with you a recipe for Honey Ginger Soy Chicken today, instead that will have to wait until the next time I decide to make it. For now I will regal you with my tale of kitchen flops or as I like to call it the dinner that wasn’t. Now I could entertain you with The Tale of Blackened Mashed Potatoes or perhaps Catching Fire: Birthday Cake Edition. Instead this is The Tale of The Bloody Bird.

I had peeled the skin off before I had realized it was under-cooked to get a decent picture. But yep I am the woman who burnt the skin and under-cooked the bird, this time.

I plan my meals out in two-week intervals. The meals are set on my weekly calendar/ to-do list in my kitchen. One would assume that this arrangement lends itself to pre-planning and well executed preparations. Alas that is often not the case with me, especially in this instance.

If things had been well executed or even considered ahead of time I would have had the chicken marinating the night before. Or at the least I would have had the chicken thawed out ahead of time. Instead I was pulling frozen chicken out of the freeze at 2 pm today. I figured I had a couple of hours the it could sorta marinate, and then I could cook it low and slow in the oven.

Well my afternoon got away from. I put the chicken quarters in the oven much later than I would have wanted, 5 pm. A half hour into it I am struggling with the dinner time crankies. Those of both myself and the children. That is when things go sideways. I cut my time little short. I crank up the time on the oven and in rush to get to dinner on the table I forget to temp the bird all together. Needless to say it was not pretty.

Moral of the story: Plan. And if you find that it is day of for a chicken meal and the chicken is not thawed switch with another meal that is more forgiving. Well that and see no one has it all together all of the time.

Sometimes I think I get stuck in a rut with my cooking. I like to make oven fried chicken with chicken legs. Pulled pork, chicken, or beef can be made into hash, tacos, quesadillas, or sandwiches. Then there is pan-fried pork chops, steaks, General Mama’s, beef and broccoli, spaghetti (in its many forms,) macaroni and cheese. Then there is the weekly pizza night. After awhile of repeating the same meals I just need to do something different. Today that something different was oven roasted chicken legs and vegetables.

I searched the internet for ideas on what to do with chicken legs and potatoes and came across this recipe for Garlic Roasted Chicken and Potatoes. I will be honest I wasn’t 100% sure about the maple syrup addition but it was well worth the add to the recipe. It gave it the little something that it needed.

I did make a couple changes from both the pictured dish and the written recipe. The dish pictured shows pineapple. I omitted it for two reasons: 1 my husband is allergic and 2 since he is allergic to it I don’t keep it in the house. It is also worth noting the pictured dish shows carrots where the recipe doesn’t include them. So unlike the recipe I added carrots and I used onion powder and seasoning salt in addition to the pepper to season the dish. I probably should also mention I have no idea what kind of potatoes I used because I got them fresh from a friend’s garden, but a good baking potato should do just fine.

I will also note that I used just the chicken legs because that was what I had on hand. If you don’t have quarters use legs, thighs, wings, breasts, or boneless if you must. No matter what you have this will still be a delicious recipe that comes together easily.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

1/4 cup butter

6 six chicken legs

6 medium to large size potatoes, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 head garlic peeled

onion powder, seasoning salt, and pepper to taste

1/4 cup maple syrup (Use real maple syrup, it will make all the difference.)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400.

2. Prep vegetables.

3. Place you chicken in the bottom of your pan followed by potatoes, carrots, and garlic.

4. Season to your preference. (I went heavy onion powder and pepper and light on the seasoning salt.)

5. Slice up butter into patties and place around the meat and veggies.

6. Cover the meat and vegetables with foil wrap. Bake for 40 minutes.

7. Drizzle with maple syrup. Place pan back in oven for another 20 minutes.

So I have sat here for several minutes trying to think of the best way to describe Pancetta Wrapped Chicken, and I am at a loss for words. I can tell you that my family absolutely loves it and I swear I feel like it melts in my mouth, but that description still feels lacking to me. All I can really say is give it a try. I am sure you will love it just as much as we do.

Spinach (Fresh baby spinach works best, but a partially defrosted frozen will work as well.)

Mozzarella slices

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

McCormick poultry seasoning

Tooth picks

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use a rolling-pin or heavy can to roll the chicken out to an even thickness. Lay out enough slices of pancetta to go the length of 1 chicken breast. Season the chicken lightly with salt and poultry seasoning and generously with pepper. Top chicken with cheese, half a slice will do, and then add . Roll the layers together and then use toothpicks to hold together. Brush with olive oil. Bake uncovered 25 minutes. Check temperature. Cook another ten to fifteen minutes, if not at temperature. (The length of time will vary depending on how thick the rolls turn out.)

Now you will just need to pull out the tooth picks before enjoying.

Note: My husband pointed out that not everyone will want to use mozzarella slices. That is fine. This recipe will work great with cubed, fresh, sliced, or grated. Use what tickles your fancy, or whatever you have on have. I just prefer the slices in this recipe. I feel they make it easier to roll the chicken up.